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Born in Dulwich, London in 1905, the elder child and only son of a naturalized British father of Hungarian origin. (Both his father and his sister - Phyllis Isobel Pearsall - were map publishers). Educated at Repton Schol, Derbyshire. In 1923 studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and The Central School of Arts and Crafts, moving later that year to Paris to study painting at the Académie Julian and etching at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. From 1924 he went to Madrid, and travelled extensively in Spain, Morocco and Algeria, settling in France in 1926, creating animated films. In 1930 he married the French painter Marcelle Marguerite (1899-1988). He returned to England in 1939 and from 1941-46 was an Official War Artist covering campaigns in El Alamein, India, Burma, Iran and Normandy. After the war he divided his time between London and Le Boulvé, France. His first one-man show was at the Leicester Galleries in 1934, followed by many exhibitions in Britain and abroad. A major retrospective exhibition was held at the V&A Museum, London in 1968. He taught at the Central School from 1948-54 and at the Slade, 1955-71. He was a member of the London Group 1948-71, a Royal Academician in 1980 and awarded the CBE in 1982. He wrote 'Etching, Engraving and Intaglio Printing', published in 1970. He died at Le Bouvé. An exhibition of his paintings and etchings was held at the North House Gallery, Manningtree in 2002. His work is held by the Tate Gallery, the Imperial War Museum and the British Museum. (BM website 2022-10-06)